[PP-F-25] Deep into Wonderland

[Ceres 0]

Tumbling, twirling, whirling and falling….

Down…

Down…

Down…

 

“OOmph…”

Ceres landed unceremoniously with a thud on the ground. She sat up, rubbing her head. “Owww… what happened…” Another grumble as she stood, a little shaky from the constant spinning. Where was she? A glance around caused Ceres’ eyes to squint, it was bright….very bright. “Huh.” A tilt of her head as she stared up at….what was she looking at exactly?

It looked like a road that had twisted and twirled in the air above her, covered in obnoxiously bright colours of pink and yellow. She hadn't really seen anything like it, but she hadn't ventured too far above the 22nd floor. So this would have to be somewhere higher? Something felt slightly constricting about the air...a labyrinth? One of those dungeon places players would talk about? Made sense...

“Mista Tybalt?” Ceres called out, taking a few shaky steps forward. Did he actually somehow whisk her away to some kind of wonderland? The entire place felt like it was something out of Alice in Wonderland. Ceres felt two emotions fighting within her, amazement - that something like this existed in Aincrad, and that he was able to pull her here. Then…concern, where was he? Why was she alone? Ceres was used to being alone. She spent most, if not all her time in Aincrad as a solitary wanderer.

What did he say? Something about being his Alice?

“Oh!” Ceres clasped her hands together in delighted realization, around the same time a glitched message would pop up in front of her. The woman brushed it away, ignoring it. She wasn't interested in it. This was a quest, right? All she had to do…was find the white rabbit. Easy! Ceres glanced down at the floor. A yellow brick road. A toe tapped the brick. “I could follow the yellow brick road…” She mumbled. “But…that’s the wrong movie so…” A spin on her heel as she turned round and went the opposite direction, where the spiralled road turned into a obtuse red colour.

“Where, oh where are you, little white rabbit?” Ceres would call out, even going as far as to pull out a carrot from her inventory, waving it in the air. “I have a juicy carrot for you.”

 

Ceres | HP: 500/500 | EN: 68/68 | DMG: 1  | True Tier 4

@Tybalt

Edited October 25 by Ceres

[Tybalt 1]

A whimsical descent down into the depths of madness, as Ceres would face plant teeth first into the street. The hat had since expanded out and so elegantly took its place as a parachute, being clutched in both hands as the man would float. "Now Now, best not be too hasty dear Alice." The man quipped with a sickly turn on the phrase. The hat deflates as he lands, even making a noise akin to that of a balloon as it does. A jerk of his arms, he rolls it up his sleeve and a twist of his elbow sees it sit squarely upon his head. "This is my domain, where all of your wildest dreams can come true..." A promise spoken with a flair. His arms extending out to orchestrate to the girl the place, spinning as if it were a field of flowers. "BUT." A shrill break as he'd snap around and contort in a shriveled state. "But..." His tone much lighter, almost kind as an inverse of the last. "it.... can.... also.... " Bridging the gap to the lass, reaching out a gloved hand to poke her gently on the nose. "It can also hold your wildest nightmares.... GASP." He extrudes pressing balled up hands into the bottom of his mask. Acting surprised, he'd hold out his arm for her to take.

"Come along dear Ceres, a rabbit, three kobolds in a trench coat? How about four gallons of skim milk pressed into a sculpture of a deer?" Whistling as he began to walk, an extension of his arm allows a long cane to drop free. A tap across the road sees all manner of things take shape in sprays of color, of wonder. Chocolate trees, a gaggle of snakes, half of a semi truck, a spray of doves, a pastrami sandwich on a plate screaming profusely. All of them unnatural, and all from within Tybalt's unhinged mind. "Give it a try~" He beckons spinning that rod like a propeller, before ripping it in front of her face with enough force to take out an eye and close enough to threaten as much.

Tybalt | HP: 680/680 | EN: 86/86 | DMG: 1

Spoiler

Name: Tybalt, The Jester
True Tier: 4
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 680/680
EN: 86/86

Stats:
Damage: 1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 

Combat Mastery:
  - 

Combat Shift:
  - 

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:

Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:

Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:

 

[Ceres 0]

Ceres was pulled back with a sharp grab of her shoulder, almost causing her to fall backwards. "Ah!" She turned to see the man who had bought her here in the first place. "Mister Tybalt!" A tilt of her head and a purse of her lips. "My name...is Ceres...remember?" He waved her off, as though he either did not hear here, or did not care. "Where you a magician? In the real world?" She would ask with a sense of wonder. He was...this was amazing! She couldn't help but cover her mouth as light laughter fell from her lips. She enjoyed his antics. It was refreshing to see someone so flamboyant and fun. She had to briefly wonder why he had an orange marker if he was like this? Then again...Ceres was never one to judge or even bother to look at anyone's markers with any sort of scrutiny.

This is my domain, where all of your wildest dreams can come true...

Then, with a slight tap on her nose which caused Ceres to sneeze. He talked about her wildest nightmares. My nightmares?  What would that be? "Mmmmm....." Her eyes drifted to the sky. "Being bored...." She said aloud. "Seeing people I like hurt...." What else?  "And a giant deerman vomiting centipedes." She added. Of all the things to fear, the last would never exist. Ceres waved it off with a laugh. "But with you here Mista Tybalt...." A spin on her heel as she ran over to a nearby puddle of what looked like whipped cream, a dip of her finger into it and it was.

Another laugh. There was no way she could be bored with him around. "I don't think I'll have that problem! No boredom here! This place is amazing!" She looked up at him, extending an arm. Ceres reached out and looped her own around it and she was immediately whirled around in two full circles. It caused her to feel slightly nauseous. "Whoa...S-Stop! You're gonna make me dizzy..." Tybalt stopped and shoved the magicians wand into her hands. Asking her to give it a try. 

"M....me!?"  She would ask. Tybalt nodded, hysterical giggles muffled beyond a Cheshire mask. "Uh!...."

She pointed at the ground beneath their feet. "It'd be fun if we were walking on jelly!" Then umbrellas would appear in their hands, inside out - and a crackle of thunder above signaled the fall of rain. "Strawberry milk rain!" What else? Could she really make anything happen here? This was an insane quest...if Aincrad could make dragons happen, and familiars...she wasn't surprised that this could too. Was Tybalt some kind of moderator? A developer? Or did his stick thing just have some strange effect on the environment? Was that even possible? "Snakes with legs! and cows like snakes!" she cried out, trying to wave the wand around. Her demands getting more and more ridiculous.

"A bird with a cats face! A cat with two bird heads!  A bowl of fingernails each painted with colours of the rainbow! A music box that only plays things backwards!" 

If he didn't stop her, she'd keep going.

@Tybalt

Edited October 25 by Ceres

[Tybalt 1]

A reach back to take the wand from the girl, the man had done exactly what he had intended to do. Give her the nudge to appreciate and embrace chaos, and her agreement to it was exactly what he had hoped. Not many had such an active minds eye, and fluid expression. "That'll do, You'll do. I was right to pick you Ceres, the cards were right to pick you." The man took a darker tone, a nearly silent murmur. "Such simple nightmares, so BORING, where is your imagination?" Tybalt remarked as he'd tap the street near her left leg, causing a pair of alligator like jaws made of concrete to spring up and rip it clean causing her to topple to the ground. "Mista Tybalt... Why?" The man stepped past her mimicking her dismay as she clambered for his ankles. "Why? WHY?" He screamed into nothing, before breaking out into laughter. "Because I can Alice." He'd answer his own faux pleads himself.

"Magic, Illusion, entertainment." He remarks to the road as if pleading to it, turning around to line his hat with a pair of pinched fingers. "I want to see your nightmares, I want you to imagine mine. The crazier the better." He chuckles again, and it seems as though the smile on his mask grows that much more sinister. "SHOW ME DEAR ALICE, what.. you truly..." he presses the cane against her forehead. "Have in there, your darkest self. Give me your best SHOT!" He exhumes in a vocal tear, his voice becoming vast and endless as it seemed to grow far beyond his stature. The cane is dumped in front of her, and the man clasps the rim of his hat. This was going to hurt, but that was half the fun of it. 

[Ceres 0]

"Hey!" her brows would furrow in frustration as he would pull the wand from her hand. "I wasn't finished." But he was. He said he was right to pick her. The cards were, there it was again...saying she was being chosen for something. "What exactly am.....I being chosen for?" She'd ask with a tilt of her head. Her lavender eyes wafting over his shoulder to watch a cloud wave at her as it floated by. This was a quest right? Shouldn't he be sending her a party invite? That's how these things worked, right? It had been years since the woman had bothered with questing. Ceres blinked as she caught him mumbling. "Oh...the quest...is Mista Vex coming soon?"

"Hmm? Did you say something?"  Tybalt jerked his head toward her and instead of saying anything he'd tap the ground, what was once orange jelly shifted - turned back into the red brick road. Then a snap and crack as the road shifted up, forming something else, an alligator - or was it a crocodile? The woman didn't have time to ponder as it clamped down on her leg. Ripping it clean off, she gave a shriek in surprise. Ceres - thankfully with the pain muffler set to full didn't feel the entire effects of her entire leg being ripped off instead- she was met with mild pain, like she had left her hand on the stove for far too long. "T-Tybalt?" Confusion in her panicked tone. What had happened? Why was he doing this? "Why?"

Tybalt stepped past her, a simple comment. 'Because I can'

"That doesn't mean you should!" Ceres snapped back, dragging herself forward to clasp a hand around ankle. "I could bite your nose off! But I wouldn't!" Stammered words spoken in a quick panic. "I could push you off this road! But I wouldn't. I could-" 

Her words fell into silence as Tybalt commanded her to show him her nightmares. Somehow...his friendly words and demeanor were melting away, something more sinister replaced it. That smiling mask which Ceres admired so, suddenly felt so foreboding. Her heart beat hard against her chest. She was afraid. What if he hurt her more? What if he took away all her limbs and carried her around on his back? What if everything went dark? She was afraid of the dark... Afraid of dying....but all those things... wasn't everyone afraid of that? Ceres felt betrayed, angry tears dotted her eyes as she picked up the cane that had been dropped in front of her.

 

Ceres scrambled to pick it up, and the first thing that happened...her leg appeared in a burst of confetti. She tested it, illusions... She blinked. Ah...that's why it didn't hurt much. It was all an illusion. Ceres turned to Tybalt, small lips turned down in a pout. "You're an asshole, Mista Tybalt!"

She thwacked the little cane over his shoulder. "I hope all your teeth fall out! Then turn into little teeth monsters that bury themselves into your skin!" Another thwack. "I hope your mask melts!" Another. "I hope you feel everything mean you do to everyone else!"  She would poke the rod into the apex of his chest. "I hope you taste nothing but gross raw onions!" She wanted to leave here. This was no longer fun. "I'm telling Mista Vex you're actually a jerk. No matter how nice you smell!" 

In one hand, she'd pull out a teleport crystal, the other she threw back, going to throw the stupid rod over the edge of the road

 

[Tybalt 1]

The man laughed and laughed with every little outburst, every prod and poke against his body. The cane was such a paltry attempt at recourse, and it showed that she had the notion. The mask slowly melting into a sad droopy face, it drips from him in globs. "Shouldn't, Wouldn't, couldn't." Tybalt repeats and adds in a mantra speaking beneath her constant babble, finding it hilarious that she continued to bark insults but constantly bringing them back. Spitting out a small cacophony of teeth soldiers. Everything she'd produced was so abysmally tame. The teleport crystal in her hands turns into pink butterflies and flutter away, as if it had never existed. The cane goes winding down the road, spiraling and rolling as it lands. Grabbing her wrist, as a her feet sink into the road. His mask springs from his head jumping off hers and rushes away with 4 spider like legs. His jaw splits at the corner of his mouth, giving him a smile that could not end to his ears. "What is and isn't. What shouldn't but should, can but cannot. Why, Alice?" Her own hair seems to come to life, growing and tying up one arm. Her skin begins to peel from her face. Eyes begin to bleed, and water fills her lungs causing her to gag and choke. "Everything and nothing, rules upon rules upon rules. So boring, so exhausting." Pressing his hand into his jaw, he'd proceed to bite off his own hand at the wrist. Blood flowed unending, and the snap of bone and sinew were the most troublesome.

The hand flops to the ground, lifeless. "Life is a game Ceres. YOU WANT TO LIVE IT? Shouldn't Couldn't Wouldn't. I can I will and I should. WELCOME TO WONDERLAND ALICE." Tybalt screams as the place becomes a blackened void, where red eyes begin to open as a silent audience. A click of lights begin to power on one after another. His own hand springs up and takes a bow, scampering down the road and disappearing out of sight. Meanwhile he folds into a bow of his own to canned laughter, the bloody stump that was his right hand being the one pressed into his abdomen. "Where shall we start? Perhaps we can try the coin trick again?"

[Ceres 0]

"W-What?" Ceres looked at her empty hand as butterflies erupted from it. How? She looked to him with a questioning gaze. No. This had to be an illusion right? She was still holding onto it. RIght? Ceres would make a crunching motion with her hand, "Taft!" She'd shout. The smallest of names. She waited. Nothing.... "T-Taft!" Again she'd shout, in more panicked tones, but her release didn't come. What did... was everything she said. His mask began to melt off his face in globs. Teeth skittered about and pierced the skin of his arms, legs and hands. Her eyes widened as she took a step away from him. "I...I didn't mean t-"

"OH bUT YOU DID! Dear Alice! You could! You Would! You SHOULD!"
 

Ceres gave a muffled scream as she clasped her hands over her own mouth, watching his jaw sickeningly unhinge, tearing at the sides as rows upon rows of newly formed teeth protruded from an ever growing smile. What was he? She shut her eyes tight. This wasn't real....this wasn't real. She had to keep telling herself that. She felt his mask crawl over her torso and she visibly shuddered. She tried to scramble back, to push herself off the floor but her own hair came to life and muffled her mouth, she choked as she felt it going down her throat - the suffocation of water in her lungs. Eyes grew blurry as pretty little dots of lights danced in front of her vision. She tried to squirm away as he quite literally chewed through his own hand, but she was powerless. It felt like the more she tried to move the more she couldn't. 

The lights shut off and she was finally able to breathe again. Ceres gulped several breathes of stale air, coughing, as she coughed up - small spiders erupted from her mouth an scattered about. 

"WELCOME TO WONDERLAND ALICE."

 "N-Not..." Ceres would choke again. "Not...Alice..." She had to keep reminding herself this wasn't real. She wasn't Alice. These were all just cruel illusions and tricks of the mind... Still... a sniffle as she felt tears sting her eyes. Why was he so afraid then, why was her heart pounding so hard against her chest? If he could do all this? Could she still do the same? 

Lights flickered back on, and she was lying on what looked like a stage. A stage...this...was a show? "H...hah....hah..." Weak laughs fell from her lips as Ceres pushed herself up only to fall forward onto her hands. Her hands...

Fingernails grew long, spraying out as they cracked along the floorboards and wrapped up and around his legs. I can still make things happen here.  The nails snapped off turned into tiny snakes that continued to coil around him. One finding its way to the stump of his hand coiling into it. 

Ceres tried to steady her breathing....what did he say? She had to forget everything? All the rules? Rules.... She'd shake her head. Her tears fell to the ground with hissing sounds, turning into pools of lava that bubbled around her. Ceres screamed at that, terrified of what was happening to her. Despite it being her own thoughts. Out of the lava came too kidneys, with little bleeding legs and arms. They began to run in circles around Tybalt. Booing him.  If he was a performer....he wouldn't like being heckled, right?

....She didn't want to hurt him....she just wanted to leave
 

Edited October 25 by Ceres

[Tybalt 1]

Nails wrapped around his legs, spiraling up as he opened an eye to catch only the snag. A glance back with that toothed grin of serrated teeth, that did not belong to him originally. The man screams out in pain, as the thing rips into his flesh digging its way deep into his chest. A horrid sight of it just beneath the skin, withering up the shoulder. All the while he kept that smile, unfolding and beginning to gag. The snake comes out of his mouth and digs into his right eye, like a worm in an apple. The laughter continues to play, canned laughter like from a sitcom. This was all a part of the act, despite the carnage that happened. A deathly calm as the man ripped the serpent free, spun it into a bouquet of flowers. The man stomps on a single kidney, leaving only one to trail around. From his head he reaches for his hat, but lifting it sees his head follow with it as if it were attached to it instead of his shoulders. "I'm still standing Alice..." He'd click his tongue and reach into the neck of his severed head, removing a saw from where his spine would be with a heavy shake.

Back from the furthest reaches, his stage 'hand' comes back wearing thimbles for shoes. Across the molten magma it trails leaving hissing sounds as it passes. The severed appendage folds up and flicks off the thimbles and claims the saw from the floor, and with a snap of his fingers a box rips out Ceres taking away her line of sight on him. Suffocating, and laced with magma at its bottom she'd feel the world turn and gravity shift. A slam against the bottom, Tybalt would peer through a small hole. "LAST CHANCE!"

The crowd begins to applaud loudly, waiting so desperately for this trick.

[Ceres 0]

"W..wait no!" Ceres' hands snapped up to cover her ears when she heard him give a garbled scream, she didn't want to hurt him. "S-Stop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" But nothing stopped. The tiny pools of lava still bubbled around her and the snake still tore and wriggled beneath his flesh. Ceres shut her eyes tight and burried herself into a ball. "I'm sorry...I'm sorrry... I'm sorry..." She kept repeating it over and over again, barely audible over his anguished screams. Whatever gumption she had, faded away into pleads. Ceres thought the man an asshole....but he didn't deserve to die because of it.

"SHUT UP!" She'd scream at the canned laughter. "Please! SHUT UP!"  The laughter continued, then erupted into thunderous applause as she heard the 'squelch' as a kidney was crushed, a second later and she screamed out, hand shooting to hold her side. It felt as though he had stepped on her own kidney. She whimpered, sprawled out on the ground. He told her he was still standing but Ceres simply shook her head. "I...I don't want to hurt you..." She mumbled. Refusing to open her eyes, refusing to see that split jaw of his.

WHAM

The woman wasn't entirely sure what happened, but the next instance she found herself inside a box - the same one that those magicians would use to saw up their assistants. assistant???  Is that what this was? The woman didn't have a chance to ponder further as she saw a large serrated saw, almost comically large - and seemingly made of....bone? Her eyes widened in fear. Last chance?  For what?  Ceres panicked and tried to push the box open from the inside, but she couldn't move, it wouldn't budge, her entire body felt like it was coated in thick molasses. All she could do was shift her head from side to side; as it poked out a single circular hole. "O-Okay!" Ceres called out, terrified. 

"I-I'll play the c-coin trick! Please...Please please just stop..." 

@Tybalt

Edited October 25 by Ceres

[Tybalt 1]

An insistent manic laughter continued to play unending despite any sounds of agony between the notes. That hand perched itself upon the folded box in a smooth slide of his other, tapping on the lid twice. "BEERP. Wrong answer." Tybalt responded gleefully as this was so much of a riot, Ceres was a brand new toy hand delivered to him by his brilliant understudy. "I don't want to hurt you....." The man droned to himself on repeat with half of his jaw dangling from his severed head, placing it on the top of the box as he presents a bloodied stump and his left hand toward his other detached one. "Ladies and Miscreants. This is the moment you've all been waiting for!" He shouts with a bit of flair, limping a bit and making a motion to drag his foot to dislodge some kidney goo. "I the magnificent Tybalt, will now saw this girl in two!" The man barks toward the faceless crowd, against gasps and expressions of factitious shock and bewilderment. "But you might ask? How will she fair? Will plumpty dumpty go back together again? Can I have her number?" Tybalt shrieked hysterically which followed more canned laughter. "ALL GOOD QUESTIONS.... Only time will tell my good men and women, I'll do my best to make sure she leaves here in one piece...." The hand drops the saw, pressing an index into its wrist like a hip. "Well mostly, MOSTLY!" The thing rubs its palm like a forehead and reclaims the saw, its disapproval satiated by the follow up.

Grabbing his severed head who had been talking until this point, he hoists it toward the opening like a bucket from a well. "Any LAST WORDS?" the man barks against stammering and pleading. "TOO LATE." Tybalt laughs as his head is dropped, and his autopiloted body starts to aid his other hand in slicing down the middle. Ceres would experience excruciating pain unlike any she had ever felt, and any effort to halt the things advances would see that appendage carved off in a serrated and gruesome removal. Her body would grow limp, her eyes lifeless. A twist of the box would see her midsection opened as her intestines pour out causing the audience to gag and hurl. "HMM, A little too close of a shave? I think she's BESIDE HERSELF about it... Don't worry Alice. I've just the thing!" He'd tap her lifeless foot and shove the box back together. A gasp from inside followed by coughing and screaming.

[Ceres 0]

Saw her in two? “W-What!?” Ceres screamed as she tried to pry the box open, telling him to shut up, telling the canned laughter to shut up, nothing worked - it only fueled his maniacal cackling.

"Any LAST WORDS?"

Ceres fell quiet, then opened her mouth to speak again, but he shouted over anything she would have…could have said. The womans back arched, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she felt it. Pain. Real pain. The woman didn’t think you could feel that here. Her cries loud and shrill echoed around them, sweat beaded down her face, mixed with tears and drool as she choked, struggling to breathe. Dots danced in front of her eyes as her body begged her for the release of of her pain. Please just kill me..

“J-Just k-ki-” Her words came out in a gurgle as her eyes darkened, head going limp. The pain too much to bare, her body twitched, and tears dripped down her face onto the wooden floor, hissing as they landed. As though they were made with acid.

Drip…
    Drip…
                Drip….

 

Each drop grew darker and darker, till they were blackened blobs of inky ichor. The woman is still unmoving. Not till he shoved the box back together, then with a gasp and a start. Ceres was able to breathe again. Coughing and screaming. Why? Why Why was he doing this?

What did she do?

“L-Leave me AloNe!” Ceres cried out as she banged fruitlessly against the wooden box. Her feeble cries were drowned out by a roar of applause from the audience.

Audience…

So noisy…

The woman shook her head and wanted so badly to escape that dark tiny prison, akin to a coffin. Perhaps she controlled the world now, or perhaps it simply broke to allow the audience a good show, but the wood broke away, leaving Ceres to fall to the floor, she immediately curled herself up into a ball. Coughing. Sobbing.

Ceres curled up into a ball, fingers clawing into her skin as she covered her face with trembling hands, daring to glance at Tybalt with a single wide and erratic eye, it’d shift to and fro unblinking even as tears pooled and capillaries burst into the whites of her eyes. Her lips trembled, and her fingernails broke her skin. “Please…I don’t like this…just stop! STOP! StOP!”  The last cry left her lips as a shrill and broken cry, and with that final desperate demand the world shifted, wonderland was back under her control.

Tybalts’s skin would tighten, coiling around him with a sickening snap as bones were crushed and forced to contort. “The skin is the largest organ…” She’d whisper under her breath, watching the scene before her unfold. “The areas of the body with the highest concentration of nerve endings are the fingertips and the lips..” Another random fact muttered under her breath as Tybalts hands were forced to cross over his chest with a sickening snap, unable to move, barely able to breath as his skin continued to tighten and constrict him, a live mummification process. Wooden floorboards twisted up, coiling around him like snakes, then expanded in a series of pulsating spikes, impaling him over and over. They throbbed, glowing a faint red as they began to drain him of every drop of blood. “Your fault… ThIs I-is…yOuR FaULt…” Despite being wrapped tight his skin wriggled and writhed, several maggots - three times the size of regular ones started gnawing through his skin.

Even his head, decapitated and laughing, bouncing around was not immune to the way his skin contorted, wrapping around his face, wood from the stage splintered up and wove itself through his lips pulling his jaw taught. Shut tight with a loud snap. It was only then Ceres would unfurl herself, only slightly from her ball. “I…its’ fINALly quiet…H..haaHaha..”  She whispered. Even the unseen audience seemed to fall into a hushed whisper.

“Mista Tybalt..you’re so cruel…trying to control me., it's heavy…but it’s not…real… control… control….control… no…no no no nononono nono nono no no no….I wanna be free..” Cere shook her head violently. She had control. She was in control. She wanted him to shut up and he did. Bound tight. She had control. “I wanna have fun again…”

Hand over hand Ceres carefully crawled up to his dismembered head and picked it up, hugging it tight to her chest. “So mean…YouRe SO mEan…”  At her words a river of blood began to pour from it, it gushed like a broken tap, a torrential current that threatened to knock the trembling woman off her feet and was quickly filling an unseen room. Waves crashing against invisible walls that surrounded the stage. Ceres stood, wild eyes looking around, the man’s sutured face hugged tight to her bosom, refusing to let it go. Her feet sloshed as she began to walk. All she wanted was to leave…leave this dark place. Go back to having fun. Why couldn’t she just have fun? “Rabbit….i gotta….” She had to leave this illusion…alll she had to do was find the white rabbit, right? “WhErE is It?” She struggled to move through the liquid, now up to her waist, then her chest. Ceres had to hold Tybalt’s head high over her own to avoid it getting wet, but it only caused the liquid to shower her. “NO!” She scrambled as she threw his head through the air. Ceres clawed at her face trying to wipe his blood out of her eyes. “Getoff…getout…get out…”

A scurrying sound, like tiny legs skittering across water caused the quickly breaking woman to look up, and it was then she saw black legs latch onto her face, digging into her skin like needles - Tybalts mask affixing itself to her. She let out a muffled scream as she tried to pry it off but with a sickening bubble and hiss it began to fuse to her face. She could feel its legs pry her mouth open then a sickly sweet liquid into her throat. She choked. S-Strawberry milk? It was the very thing she had asked for earlier, but instead of raining down on her in a light and playful drizzle she was being forced to drink it, far too sickingly sweet for her to handle.. It didn’t make sense…none ….none of this made…

What makes sense?

What was real?

What wasn’t?

Ceres struggled as the bloody liquid continued to rise, now well above her head. She thrashed about. Chest burning, eyes stinging, dots dancing and twirling and swirling in her vision. P…pretty…..

She lost consciousness, floating alone, helpless, and lost in the world of an insane wonderland, trapping her crumbling sanity and weaving its own rules and laws in its place, cementing something new, something far more fun. In its place.

[Tybalt 1]

The screaming stops from the box, and is transferred straight to Tybalt. His skin becomes tight and taught, stretched thin and breaking under that tension as if unseen hands begin to pull at every inch threatening to skin him alive. His arms and legs shrivel under an unbearable pain that has his headless body drop to its knees, as the very wood of the stage moves to entomb him. The severed head is muffled under more of the same, being buried under the chaotic imagination of a girl pushed to her wits end. His body is slowly consumed in its wooden grave, being devoured by the manifestations of the girl that wished this over. A sea of endless blood claims the gilded winding road of wonderland, tracing the cracks before turning to an ocean from his own mouth. The claps of her feet as she's swept up in her own fleeting imagination, being plunged into the deeper depths of what she could dream up.

The mask on her face would begin to speak, adhered to her face as it pumped her full of her own daring desires. A bittersweet reimagining of her own devices, and with it she is beckoned to the void. Her tapped far beyond her usual measure, pushed to her limits and broken. A clap against the side of her face would bring her to. Right as rain, without a scratch stood Tybalt in all of his splendor and tailoring. But that couldn't possibly be true? could it? Just behind him was his own maggot eaten body made bone across the winding and tainted brick road. His severed head still sat in Ceres's lap. "No no my dear Alice, look what you can do!" He squirmed, whipping out to his side and offering a white gloved hand for her to take a peek what sat beyond. "Am I mean for pushing you to BREAK your chains?" The man tilts to look on, as the mask detaches from her face and skitters off the side of the road, falling into the endless white void without pause. "Allow yourself to be FREE, see true liberation. No rules, No right from wrong. The world is so much more FUN when you do what you want... When you want~" He reaches down to give her a hand up, kicking his own head off her lap. A laugh and his manic mantra repeated once more for good measure "Shouldn't Couldn't Wouldn't, Should Could and Would!~"

[Ceres 0]

Her eyes fluttered open with a soft groan, a mask which once felt so suffocating now felt so right, the cool porcelain pressed against the heat of her skin…it slid off with a faint ‘pop’ sound and skittered away. What remained was the bright world she missed. The warmth of the sun against her skin, a cloud shaped like a frog hopping along the sky.

“Mista….Tybalt?”

CeReS   Alice sat up, a hand to her head. She was drowning just before - but…now she was fine. Her hand fell to her lips, the faint sugary taste of strawberries lingered. Eyes, clouded yet curious, looked up at a man. His eyes, a soft hue of pink, almost magenta were wide and manic - lips twisted into a wide grin that matched the mask he usually wore.  Wisps of white hair flowed gently in the breeze, and almost without realizing C̴̭̈e̸͉̍̚r̵̗͆͋ę̷͕̉͘s̷͔̐ reached out and plucked a plume from his head, it morphed to cotton candy between her fingers and the woman placed it on her mouth. Letting it melt on her tongue. 

It’s sweet.

"No no my dear Alice, look what you can do!"

She peered over his shoulder. “I…did that?” Her brows furrowed as she looked at the strange lump of meat, writhing as a carpet of maggots ate their way free from a mummified cocoon. 

Chains…

Flashes of pain wracked her body and the woman began to hyperventilate. Eyes dilating. No… No no….No noNOno…Chains meant pain. A hand covered her mouth as she coughed, then laughed. Tears dotting the corners of her eyes. No…no she was free now.

“I…I can do that….” A shuddered breath as she reached out to grab his hand. “I-I want to have fun again. Should. COuld. WOulD.” It was better that way. It was better to do what she wanted. When she wanted HOW she wanted. Not to be trapped again. No.. Not again… Never again.. No OnnO NO No…

Another soft laugh, broken and pained fell from her lips as she felt herself being lifted up. “TeAch Me?”

[Tybalt 1]

A chipper and unsettling wide grin "Of course, of course.. Is why I brought you to my abode... I am eager to see how you do~" A bow deeply and a flick of the imagination sees her attire morph into something with quite a bit more flair. Long stockings, heels and a bowtie. "Got to look the part of course, find your style and whisk away the mundane." The man removes his top hat and twirls it around his finger. "Let's begin." from his inner coat pocket, he begins to pass cards back and forth between his hands and revealing cards. What the man explains out, cradling her movements and motions with a level of patience most didn't know he had.

Like a father to a daughter, every small flourish is taught to her over days. All the while Tybalt encourages her to put her own spin on every trick. "It has to be yours, Alice. My tricks will not do. Every magician has their own set of cards to play. Astound the masses, make every day fun and out of the ordinary~" Tybalt expresses with a repeated level of excitement and investment, as it feels like months pass by within wonderland. The man passes her the knowledge time and time again, answering every question and giving her every second of his attention. Like an artist to a canvas. The final points made and a level of confidence beyond even most parents would pay their children. "I cannot wait for your first show! They grow up so fast" The jester looms checking every inch of her outfit, taking a moment to flick a grain of rice and tighten her bowtie. A final test was to really give her the bag, and let her run wild. To really see where she would end up, what his fair Alice would become. "Showtime~" Tybalt shrieks jubilantly, revealing a white rabbit that springs from his hat and leaps as he presses his signature mask to his face. A magenta colored portal pops open like a curtain being ripped open. Guiding the girl through, they end up traveling to a bustling town. NPC's grow immediately outraged as Tybalt is spotted, and time is finally shown to been only a couple of days. Wonderland worked differently it seemed. "KNOCK THEM DEAD" He passes Ceres a deck of serrated metal cards, and pushes her on the back.

Leaning up against a tavern wall, the man begins to wipe the corner of the eyes on his mask. Filled to the brim with pride.

[Ceres 0]

Ceres  Alice glanced down at her outfit, gone were the drapes of silken robes and in its place something far more risque. “Huh?”  Dark fishnet stockings clung tight to her legs, aLiCe tugged on them, and they snapped back into place. Strong, they wouldn’t easily break. “Oh~?” A tiny spark of light returned to her eyes, momentarily enthralled by the sheer magic of her outfit changing. A glance over her shoulder, and a little fluffy rabbit tail sat over her bodysuit. “Fluffy!” She’d puff out he chest, standing tall as Tybalt reached out to affix a bow-tie around her neck. “Wait wait!” Rabbit ears sprung out of her own top hat as she took it off and showed him. “Look, see! I found the rabbit! It was me!”

"Let's begin."

 

Moments to days, and days to weeks…at least…it felt like weeks and the woman known as Ceres was stripped away, layer by layer. Every time she’d break, she’d be placed in a box, screaming, crying..choking, reliving pain and death over and over - till the very utterance of the name Ceres caused a fit of nausea and near hysteria. One moment left the side of her face scarred, matching the King of hearts - Vex. Who oh so lovingly visited her every so often, whispering sweet nothings and coercing the unconscious into something far more grand before disappearing with a flourish, at Tybalts command. The woman would grow close to Tybalt, becoming more and more affectionate with him, enamoured with him. Through all the pain, the sparks, the torture and the joy - Ceres was finally erased - and in her place… Stood Alice.

–

 

"I cannot wait for your first show! They grow up so fast" 

“I’ll do you so proud Papa Tybalt~” A swoon from Alice as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, rubbing her cheek against the smooth porcelain of his mask. She stepped back and he adjusted her bow-tie as she adjusted his hat.

Following the rabbit through a portal Alice was handed a deck of cards. “Oh! You shouldn’t have! Ahh! But you did..You did… Papa did…” Alice squealed as she took the cards from him.

 

“Wait…no…no no no NO no noNO….” Alice mumbled near incoherently under her breath as she shuffled the cards, ignoring the slight cuts on her fingers and palms from the erratic and fast movement. “These aren’t right…areN’t right at all…Wrong ColouR…wronG….” She looked up, then glanced over her shoulder. “Oh! But!” A grin formed on her features. “I’ll fix it, with magic!”

Alice stepped in front of a guard who had gone to attack Tybalt. “Wait….Look!” With a wave of her hand Alice produced a single red rose and waved it in front of his face. “Nothing up my sleeve!” A pause, then she delivered the punchline with exuberant glee. “I have no sleeves!” She’d laugh as the rose sprayed acid in the mans face. He screamed as her marker flickered from green to orange to green. “Oh? You don’t like the smell of that?” Alice lifted the rose and sniffed it. “Oh, yes.. Yes… I see…This one is a spring rose. You wanted a summer rose.” The guard didn’t respond, face melted and pressed into the ground. “Silly me! Still, the show must go on! No time for critiques!”

She threw the flower over her shoulder and stepped over him with a perfectly polished heeled boot. Another guard she pressed her cards into, face down , splayed into his chest, rivers of red fell over them. “O-Oh! Oopsie!” She stuck her tongue out at him in a cheeky grin. “Sorry Sorry! This is my first performance. You’ll forgive me, right?” She reached out and forced his head to nod up and down. “You do! Ahh how kind! Look, you're even painting my cards the right colour.”

Alice pulled the cards from his chest and turned , holding them high over her head as she presented the blood stained cards to Tybalt, waving them around as she jumped from one foot to the other.

“Look Papa! Look! This is the colour I wanted! Isn’t it pretty?”

Edited 19 hours ago by Ceres